A quiet evening becomes less restful when every silence is treated as something to fill.

Rest needs gaps, and gaps only stay restful if nobody keeps closing them. An evening with a television on, a phone checked, a question asked into every lull is technically free time and still leaves you tired, because attention never got a stretch of nothing to settle into. The discomfort that makes people reach for the next thing usually passes in under a minute if left alone.

Try letting one silence run this week without rescuing it. Sitting through the first uncomfortable stretch is most of the work, and what comes after it is the part you were hoping for.